


Sing It For The Boys

by Natileroxs



Series: Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back [2]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), My Chemical Romance, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-SING (Music Video)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:28:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22031062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natileroxs/pseuds/Natileroxs
Summary: "We were lucky," Kobra tells Ghoul."Yeah, hitting your head and waking up in a room with your dead friends is way better than dying with them.""Looking at it logically, it is."(Kobra and Ghoul survive SING and have to run away together)
Relationships: Agent Cherri Cola & Fun Ghoul, Agent Cherri Cola & Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Fun Ghoul & Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Fun Ghoul/Party Poison (Danger Days), Jet Star/Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Kobra Kid & Party Poison (Danger Days)
Series: Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592827
Comments: 21
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not abandoning any of my other fics, don't worry. I just had to get this idea out of my head. 
> 
> By the way, watch their death scenes in SING very closely and you'll understand my need to write this. I can't believe no one else noticed before me.

Rays of light are flying everywhere, from every direction. Kobra ducks and avoids all that he can, shooting as he goes. Then everything goes into tunnel vision as he sees Party against the wall, Korse’s hand pressing him into his shoulder with his free hand, the other wrapped around a ray gun, the barrel pressing against Party’s jaw. Party stares Korse down but Kobra yells and runs towards the pair. 

“Party!”

The sound of the gun going off will be forever ingrained in his mind, alongside the sound of Party’s lifeless body sliding down the wall and falling to the ground. The girl’s screams echo around the room, alongside Ghoul’s cry and Kobra’s loud shout for his brother. He takes his own ray gun into both his hands and aims right for Korse, shooting and shooting and shooting. He’s running towards Korse, anger in his veins. 

And then he feels a sharp pain in his left arm that throws him off balance and he falls, his head slamming hard into the ground. And everything goes black. 

* * *

Ghoul watches Party go down and cries out before gritting his teeth and hitting two Dracs with as much force as possible. Then he spins around and shoots another before the sound of the girl’s screams compel him to turn again, just in time to see Kobra go down. 

Party’s red hair hangs in front of his face as his body is slumped over. It’s almost like he could be resting, but the blood dripping from his chin and down his neck tells a different story. Ghoul looks over at Kobra, the blonde lying on his side with his hand still grasping the handle of his gun. But the burn tearing through part of his jacket and blood pooling around his head make Ghoul sick. 

Ghoul runs over to the girl, and they run together, following Jet as he leads them to the exit. Jet pushes the door open and the girl runs out. And Ghoul makes a decision. She needs to live on. And if any of them can get away, Ghoul’s sure it will be Jet. He knows what he needs to do. 

“Save yourself,” he whispers to himself, remembering the words that Party had sung to him. “And I’ll hold them back, tonight.” He pulls the door closed, despite the girl’s protests. He watches Jet pull her along, makes eye contact and the man nods, a sad but resigned look in his eyes. 

He turns, raises his gun, and shoots. He shoots and shoots and shoots. Shots are going through the glass and Ghoul is praying that the other two got out safe. That they’ll live on for the three of them. 

A shot hits his left hand and the arm swings down in response. Even still, Ghoul shoots with his right hand clinging to the handle, his finger on the trigger. A shot pierces through and hits him on his upper left and he feels pain everywhere. He feels his balance waver and he hits the ground. Everything goes black and he welcomes the darkness. He’ll happily join Party and Kobra. Jet will get the girl out. He’s sure of it. 

* * *

Kobra blinks his eyes open, sleepy and half awake. He expects to see the warm light of the sun filter through the windows and shine against the stained wall of the diner, a thin but reasonably soft (at least for what they could get) mattress underneath him. Instead, harsh, artificial light almost blinds him and he has to squeeze his eyes shut for a few moments before he can open them again. 

Beneath his body, he can feel hard tile and he can feel a ray gun, his ray gun, hanging loosely in his hand, arm extended out. 

His head hurts. A lot. And so does his arm. 

Suddenly, everything that happened comes back to him. Saving the girl, fighting Korse, Party against the wall, a flash, Party sliding down the wall, Kobra shooting at Korse, getting hit in the arm, hitting his head against the ground, the darkness swallowing him. 

He feels sick. His brother, his brother is dead. 

He looks around without moving, seeing dead Dracs lying about but hearing no movement. He pushes himself into a sitting position and glances over at his brother, sitting against the wall, lifeless. He looks like a puppet that’s been set aside. Tears well in Kobra’s eyes but he blinks them back and looks around some more. 

And then his eyes widen as he takes in another figure, lying on the ground, lifeless. Ghoul. 

“Oh fuck… no… no, no, no, this can’t be happening.” He tries to keep himself from sobbing but it hard, so hard. He crawls over to his friend. Ghoul’s hair is splayed about and so is the rest of him. Exactly what Kobra would expect from Ghoul. There’s a harsh burn on his left hand and one that spans his shoulder and the left side of his collar bone. 

Kobra crawls even closer and lies his head on Ghoul’s chest. And then he hears it, somewhat slow and quiet, there’s a heartbeat. Relief floods him. Ghoul’s alive. He’s fucking alive. 

“Ghoul,” he hisses in the black-haired man’s ear. “Wake up you asshole.” He shakes him a little and Ghoul’s eyes fly open, reaching for his ray gun. Kobra reaches over with his uninjured arm and pushes Ghoul back down to the ground. Ghoul’s eyes bounce about, looking for the source of the weight holding him down. 

“K-Kobes?” Ghoul whispers, disbelief flooding his features. “But… But you’re dead.” 

Kobra shakes his head, regretting the action almost instantly. His headache rears its head again. Of course he’s got a headache, he did hit it hard enough to knock him out. “I’m not. Just hit my head.” 

“Hopefully you don’t have brain damage,” Ghoul says, smiling a little. “Or me.”

“I don’t think you can damage your brain any more.”

“Oi!” He hisses back. He reaches up with his right hand and holds it against his wound. “What the fuck happened to me? Did I get knocked out too?”

“Probably.” Kobra then casts his eyes downward. “But… Party…”

Ghoul’s expression falls and he audibly gulps. “I know…” he says weakly. “Jet and Girl got away, I think. I shut the door.”

“I’ll hold them back,” Kobra hums. He’s going to miss Party’s voice the most, he thinks. Ghoul nods before wincing. 

“We… they might come back, we need to get out of here.” Ghoul struggles to his feet and then helps Kobra up. They stumble together over to Party, where Kobra gently hugs his brother, kissing the top of his head. Ghoul then kneels and squeezes the redhead's hands before letting out a soft sob and standing. 

Kobra wraps his arms around the shorter boy and Ghoul curls into him. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” 

  
“We can’t leave him,” Kobra whines at Ghoul. But Ghoul shakes his head.

“I don’t want to either, but if they’ve taken the car, there’s no way we can transport him. And Dracs could be coming back at any time. We may have fooled them before, but it’s unlikely to happen again.” 

“If the car’s gone, what do we use?”

“There’ll be bikes, you can ride, can’t you?”

Kobra gives him a small nod and they leave Party lying there. They stalk out of the room, opening the door quietly and making sure to shut it properly. The sight they walk out into is awful. Their car, their beautiful Trans-Am, is still here. But… on the bonnet… is Jet. Jet, lying there with one hand on his stomach and the other above him, gun still loosely gripped. The scorch mark on his chest is awful. 

“Fuck…” Ghoul hisses and Kobra lets out a whimper. But Ghoul just rights himself and walks over, running his hand through Jet’s hair slowly before walking over to one of the abandoned bikes, kicking a Drac away. 

Kobra is stuck in one spot, staring at Jet. How is this happening? This can’t be real. Party can’t be dead, Jet can’t be dead. But they are. 

“Kobra, c’mon, we need to go,” Ghoul hisses. Kobra stumbles over to him. They can hear a fleet of Dracs heading their way. Kobra jumps onto the bike and Ghoul hops on behind him, wrapping his arms around the taller boy’s waist. Kobra nudges the kickstand up and then revs the engine a little before taking off. 

As they head down the road, Kobra feels Ghoul squeezing him tight. Ghoul’s soft shudders and sniffles give away the fact that Ghoul is crying and Kobra blinks his tears back. He wants to cry, but the tears will just blur his vision and he won’t be able to steer. 

His breakdown can wait. 

* * *

Party blinks his eyes open, heart racing. He did it. Korse is crouched in front of him and Party gives him a grin before taking in the look in Korse’s eyes. Something’s wrong. 

“What’s-”

“Your brother, Gerard,” Korse begins. “He’s gone.”

Party face twists into one of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Michael and your friend Ghoul. Their bodies were taken away before I got here. I had no chance to give them the medication.”

Party’s eyes fill with tears and he sags, but Korse pulls him up. “Come now, Gerard. Your other friend, Jet, he was still here when I returned. As was your car.”

Shaky and with tears sliding down his face, Party follows Korse out the door towards Jet, who lies on the bonnet of the car. His eyes are open and he squints at Party in confusion, eyes trailing over to Korse, where his expression hardens and he sits up with a struggle.

“Jet, don’t,” Party quickly says as Jet aims his gun. Jet sends Party an incredulous look but slowly lowers his gun. 

“Party? What’s going on?” 

Party sighs. “This is going to be a bit of an explanation. But… come on… we-we…” He mumbles. “We need to mourn the others.”

Jet’s eyebrows furrow. “The others? Mourn?”

“They could save me and you, but Kobes and Ghoul… they were gone when Korse got here…” 

Korse grabs Party’s wrist. “Come now, Gerard, we must go.” Party reaches out and takes Jet’s hand, pulling him up. 

“They’re really gone?”

Party gives him a sad look with a quivering lip and glassy eyes. “Y-yeah.” 

As Party jumps in the front of the car and Jet hops in the back, Party sees the pain in Korse’s eyes as he slides in the passenger seat, knowing that he caused his own nephew’s death. 

“Come on, we need to go.”

* * *

They pull her in and she simply screams out for Jet, who’s landed on their beautiful car. All she can think about is Party’s body, slumped over against the wall. And Kobra, lying with his blonde hair spread about and his fingers still at the trigger of his ray gun. And Ghoul’s face as he shut the door, resigned and absolutely devoid of hope. 

Dr D holds her in his grasp tightly as Pony sits in the seat beside her, shaking. They suddenly rip off their helmet and for the first time, the Girl sees Show Pony’s face. Androgynous, with dark black hair hanging past their ears. Actually, they’re beautiful, but she can’t admire that because Pony’s face has tears running down it. Chimp swings the van away from the curb, her blonde hair hiding her expression. 

Dr D’s eyes give away his sadness even as his face doesn’t. Girl falls to her knees and sobs loudly and harshly. When they finally get back to the diner, Cherri Cola is racing out to meet up with them. He breaks down when he sees Pony’s face, and then when he takes in DJ Hot Chimp and Girl. His eyes fill with tears as he realises what it means. And then she runs. 

She runs and runs and runs. Cola calls after her, but she keeps going. She can’t stay. She needs to get away from everyone. She needs to go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can someone tell me how you make the spaces in between paragraphs smaller? it's honestly beginning to piss me off


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's just under an hour and a half until 2020 so i'm gonna post this and you guys can't stop me!
> 
> happy new year :)
> 
> start of comics and then diverges

Finding the mask is equivalent to finding a gold mine for her. She trades for it, neglecting the food she’d been meaning to buy. She needs to eat, yes, but she needs the mask more. 

“I’ll take it instead,” she says and quickly takes it. She runs out as two ‘Joys watch her leave and whisper about her under their breaths before quickly giving chase. And then Val fucking Velocity snatches it out of her hands and she chases him, crying out for him to give it back. She decides she fucking hates Val. 

* * *

A firefight is the last thing she wants to be apart of. But it’s inescapable, and finally, when she gets the damn mask back, she returns to the nest and hides from the rest. When she’s dragged out, she protests loudly and harshly. Until she sees who it is. 

“Cola? Cherri Cola?”

“Come on, we have to get you out of here.”

He takes her back to that damn shack that had  _ never _ been her real home. Her home was the diner and she has no clue how to get there. And it seems neither does Cola. He leads her in, making it obvious that he’s set himself up there. She pulls away a tarp and stops cold. 

Four mannequins are standing in a line, dressed in the remaining clothes of the dead Killjoys of her past. She begins to cry, eyes filling with tears and her lips quiver. “I… I miss them.” 

“So do I.” 

She doesn’t even remember their faces. She was so young. But she remembers Jet’s warm hugs and smile, she remembers Party’s bouncy energy, drive, protective nature. She remembers Ghoul’s sly smirk, remembers him running his tattooed fingers through her hair softly. And then she remembers Kobra, his penchants for martial arts and his iron grip and his gentle touches. 

Why can’t she remember their faces? How dare she forget them. 

“It was my fault they died. If I didn’t get caught,” she says bitterly. And it’s true, it’s all her fault. 

“It wasn’t,” Cola tells her, crouching and placing his strong arms on her shoulders. “They were protecting you and did the best they could.” 

He feels guilty too, she knows that. He blames himself, he should have been there. But… he wasn’t apart of the fabulous four. Nor was she. The fabulous four were always Party Poison, Kobra Kid, Fun Ghoul, and Jet Star. Not Pony, Chimp, Dr D. No. 

It was those four. Cola shouldn’t feel guilty. He didn’t do anything wrong. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers and she nods. 

“I’m sorry too, Cola. Sorry for running all these years.” She should’ve stayed. She should’ve looked after Cola, helped him. 

* * *

It’s nearing twilight and she’s still out on this stupid trip to retrieve another few cans of Power Pup. She’s just minding her own business when she digs the mask, bright yellow and beautiful, out of her pocket and just looks at it. It’s surreal, holding it in her hand. 

And then someone snatches it out of her hand, just like Val. She looks up, ready to give them a piece of her mind and retrieve the mask when she realises that the person isn’t running off with it. They’re simply looking at it. Their touch is gentle, careful as they handle the thing. 

They’re shrouded in dark cloth, face obscured. They’re tall and, from what she can tell, likely extremely lanky. They must be boiling in that cloth, but it doesn’t seem to bother them. Instead, they hold the mask up high, higher than she could ever reach, and instead, take something from their pocket. A small bit of paper, obviously torn off a magazine of some kind. There’s writing on it. They hand it to her and she frowns but takes it. 

_ Take us to Cherri Cola _

She scowls. No way in hell is she doing that. “No.”

They point to the note and then gesture with the mask. Now that makes sense. If she takes them to Cola, they’ll give her the mask. Bastard. 

“Us?”

As she says it, another figure draped in cloth joins them. The second one is much shorter than their companion. The tall one gestures with the mask and points to the note again before handing the mask to their friend, who carefully takes it and examines it closely before handing it back. 

“Fine,” she finally hisses. “I’ll take you to him. But you better not try anything.”

The short one throws their hands up as if saying that they mean no harm. She doesn’t believe that until they hand her ray guns. The short guy has a green and yellow one, with the writing, 

_ Non ho paura di continuare a vivere _

She’s not sure what it means. She then looks at the other one, which actually has writing in English this time. Tall guy’s gun is blue and red, with white writing running down both sides. 

_ I am not afraid to walk this world alone _

The paintwork is so carefully crafted that she can’t stand the thought of damaging it. So she carefully stows the things in her backpack. Then she leads them back to the old shack that Cola inhabits, calling out to him. 

“Cola! We have guests.” 

He comes running out and shorty crosses their arms and Cola stops in confusion, while the tall one,  _ who still has the mask _ , walks away. She follows as they make their way inside and pause in front of the mannequins. She hears them let in a sharp breath and then they push back the hood, revealing bleach blonde hair. Shedding the black cloth, she sees their bright red jacket and black skinny jeans. From behind, they look so stiff and unfamiliar. Until they turn around, that is. 

“It’s all still here,” they, or more specifically, he says. His eyes are filled with tears that haven’t fallen. She then sees the word running down one of the jacket sleeves. 

_ K O B R A  _

She splutters as he gives her a sad smile. “Hey, baby girl.” He kneels slightly and gently takes her in his arms. 

“K-Kobra?” She blurts out and she feels him nod. He then pushes away, again, gently, and holds out the mask for her to take back. She shakes her head. He can keep it. He’s just got to stay here. “You’re really real?” She murmurs and he nods again. 

“You’ve grown up.”

She laughs. And then they both hear Cola yell, “don’t fucking touch that!” And Kobra sighs gently before following the sound. 

Standing there is the second cloaked figure and Cola, squaring off. At first, the Girl is confused, until she sees what shorty has in their arms. Mousekat. 

“Stop it,” Kobra says calmly and shorty turns sharply, the action mirrored by Cola only milliseconds after. She watches as Cola’s eyes go wide and then her gaze turns back to shorty, who throws off their dark cloth. 

What she’s greeted with is a scowling face, black hair framing it. A yellow and black striped shirt covers his chest and on top of that is a green army vest. She sees tattoos spread down the person’s arms and hands, and climbing up their neck. Old ones she recognises, new ones she’s never seen before. 

It’s Fun Ghoul. Kobra and Ghoul are alive and here. 

Ghoul grits his teeth, turning up his nose at Cola. Cola simply stares at Kobra in shock before glancing over at Ghoul and the shock sets in again. 

“Kobra… Ghoul…” 

Kobra slowly sighs and motions for both Cola and Ghoul to come over. He then rips Mousekat out of Ghoul’s grip, taking it in his own. 

“Hey!” Ghoul yells. “You get the fuckin’ mask, I get the head.”

Kobra simply shakes his head. 

“You’re alive?” Cola mumbles. Kobra gives him a soft, rare smile and the Girl almost melts. Cola pretty much does melt because he’s a blubbering mess. Kobra simply gestures to a cluster of chairs and they all sit down, aside from Ghoul who begins to pace. 

“Ghoul, sit.” 

“No, give me back the fucking head!”

“You’re so obsessed with it. It doesn’t belong to you.”

“Doesn’t belong to you either,” Ghoul hisses. He strides forward and places both his hands on Mousekat, pulling it with little success. “C’mon! I don’t give a fuck if he was your fucking brother, give it to me right now!”

The Girl freezes at the word. Brother. What does that…   


“Brother?” Cola voices her thoughts. His shock has mellowed out to a calm, not fucking dealing with that, energy. 

Kobra turns his head sharply. “He didn’t tell you?” 

Ghoul grimaces. “Clearly not, Mikey.” He then tugs once more, pulling the thing cleanly out of Kobra’s hands. Kobra doesn’t notice, simply gazing at Cola in slight horror. 

“Oh, god… Party really didn’t tell you anything.” Kobra turns to look at the Girl, who shares Cola’s look of confusion. “He didn’t tell either of you?” Kobra squeezes his eyes shut, biting his lip. “Uh oh…”

“Yeah, uh oh.” Ghoul sits down, cuddling Mousekat to his chest. “Party never told good ol’ Cola over here that you two were brothers.”

“You were that close?” The Girl asks. Ghoul cackles. 

“Not just ‘that close’. Fuck, man, bi-o-lo-gic-al,” Ghoul says, giving Kobra a look. “Party and Kobra shared the same set of fucked up parents.”

Kobra cast his gaze down before speaking. “I’m guessing you also didn’t know that Ghoul and Party were fucking. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised, Gee could be one quiet motherfucker when he wanted to. He could also make enough noise to-”

“Shut your fucking mouth, Frank,” Kobra hisses and Ghoul scrunches his nose up in disgust. The Girl catches the name, though. Names, actually. Gee? Frank? And what did Ghoul say before? Mike?

“Frank?” Cola pipes up. Ghoul chortles. 

“He didn’t tell you that either? Ha, what a fucking joke.” Ghoul curls up in his chair, pressing his face into the fur of Mousekat. Kobra stands.

“We need rest. All of us. Myself and Ghoul just travelled two days to get here with little sleep or supplies.” He keeps the mask in his hand and pulls Ghoul to his feet, where the man wavers a little. Cola springs up just in time to catch Ghoul as he falls. Mousekat comes tumbling out of his grasp and the Girl catches it just in time. 

Cola frowns and narrows his eyes but gestures to the back room where they can sleep. “We should talk in the morning.” 

Kobra nods before motioning to Ghoul’s, who’s passed out in Cola’s arms. “He needs to see Dr D.” 

Cola raises an eyebrow but carries Ghoul towards the back room, Kobra following and the Girl right behind. Cola places the black-haired man on a mattress and Kobra lies down next to him. He then smiles at the Girl and holds out his arms. She drops to her knees and curls up with him. She hasn’t even eaten but she feels absolutely shattered. She needs to sleep and, as Kobra wraps his arms around her, it’s all too easy to drift off. 

She wakes up by herself and her mind convinces her that it was all in her mind. She walks out into the main room to see Ghoul lounging on one of the seats and she feels pure joy. Unlike the night before, he doesn’t seem bitter and pissed. He sends her one of his bright smiles before he picks up Mousekat from beside him and runs his fingers through it’s fur. She sets herself across from him. 

“Good morning,” he says, nodding. She sends him one of those grins that are becoming rarer and rarer every day. 

“Hey, Ghoul. Oh my god, it feels so good to say that again,” she mutters the last part. He chuckles. 

“Sorry, we stayed away for so long.”

“We better get explaining, Frankie.” Kobra settles in a seat beside her, followed by a tired-looking Cola. 

Ghoul scrunches up his nose. “Where do we start?”

“Uh… maybe with your… names?” The Girl mumbles. 

“Yeah, we can wait for you to tell us how the hell you’re still alive,” Cola says and crosses his arms. Kobra and Ghoul share a look and then Kobra begins. 

“We have city names, you know. Us four… we shared our names.” 

Ghoul snickered. “We thought Party had told you all this, but apparently he didn’t.”

Kobra grimaces at the mention of Party Poison. 

“He really was your brother?” Cola asks and Kobra nods. 

“He was. Our names were Gerard and Michael Way. He used to call me Mikey.” Kobra gives them a sad smile. “His name-” he points to Ghoul, “is Frank.”

“Frank Anthony Iero Jr. to be exact.”

Cola pauses. “Dr D had a nephew called Frank Iero. He told me.”

“Exactly.” Ghoul points to himself. “That’s me! Not that he knows that.” He shrugs. “Never told him. Thought it might fuck with him to talk about my parents.” 

Kobra casts his eyes down. “Jet’s name was Ray. We don’t know his real surname, he was raised in the zones, going from crew to crew.” 

“Wanna know something so fucking interesting that it’d blow your mind?” Ghoul asks, a wicked smirk on his face. “Korse was this fuckers uncle.” 

Kobra sends him a glare. Cola and the Girl splutter at the same time. Korse was Kobra Kid and Party Poison’s uncle? What the hell?

“Thanks, Frank.” Kobra shakes his head. “Not sure how that’s relevant, but thanks for providing background information. Yes, Korse is my uncle, was Party’s. But that doesn’t matter, because he killed Party and Jet and tried his damn hardest to kill the two of us.”

“I saw you go down,” the Girl finally says. “You sure seemed dead. There was blood everywhere.”

“That’s because I pretty much cracked my head open. I only got hit in the arm.” Kobra winces at phantom pains in the back of his head. He gestures to the burn up the right side of his jacket. “I was lucky to live.”

“We both were,” Ghoul points out. “I got hit in the hand, collarbone, and I hit my head on the ground. Got knocked out. It was fucking awful. But at least I’m not dead. But maybe that’s not a good thing.” He sighs. 

“There’s a reason we stayed away for so long,” Kobra whispers. “We were martyrs. The fabulous four, killed together in the heat of battle, saving the one who would liberate the world. We were heroes. We couldn’t go fucking that up.” 

Ghoul huffs. “And when we finally went to look for you, Cola, you’d fucking disappeared. We couldn’t even find my good ol’ uncle or-” he spins in his seat, placing his chin on Mousekat as he points at the Girl. “You were nowhere to be fucking seen.” She frowns at that, but Ghoul isn’t done. “If we didn’t see the mask, it’s doubtful we would have even noticed you.”

“That’s awful, Ghoul,” Kobra interjects. 

“It’s true,” Ghoul spits. “We haven’t seen her for years. She was a fucking kid, how were we supposed to know what she looks like now. It took you a few moments, and it’s only ‘cause of Party’s mask that you noticed her at all.”

“ _ Ghoul! _ ” Kobra hisses, sending the dark-haired man a harsh glare. He then relaxes his expression. “We should go see Dr Death Defying. That fucker needs to know we’re still here.”

“What’s with the change of heart?” Cola asks, his voice even. 

“There’s been a stir. Something to do with Korse. I need to send him a message. That motherfucker thought he killed us.” Kobra stands. “Time to kill some Dracs.” He then takes out another gun, different from the one from before. It’s still red and blue, but it has different words.

_ A surprise party? For me?  _

Ghoul then tossed him another. Yellow and green. 

_ You shouldn’t have :) _

“Let’s go kill some motherfuckers.” 

* * *

Party Poison looks at the note and guns with wide eyes. 

_ One day, I’ll leave you, a phantom to lead you in the summer. To join the Black Parade  _

_ \- KK and FG  _

Alongside the words was two little drawings. A smiley face with a zig-zag across the smile and one of the eyes crossed out. The other was a crude drawing of a snake, a cobra to be exact. 

He feels sick. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italian is "I am not afraid to keep on living" which carries on with Kobra's gun which says "I am not afraid to walk this world alone." Both of these are from Famous Last Words.
> 
> "A surprise party? For me?" "You shouldn't have" is from Mama, Live In Mexico. That is my absolute favourite MCR performance. 
> 
> "One day, I’ll leave you, a phantom to lead you in the summer. To join the Black Parade" If you don't know where that's from, you're not a real MCR fan. joking, though it's obviously from Welcome To The Black Parade.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, guess what! this is actually based in the same universe as my other fic, Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back, i just decided that now :)
> 
> hope you enjoy this chap
> 
> the timeline will be written in the description part of the series
> 
> I pray there are no plot holes. i truly do pray

“What does this mean, Party?” Jet asks, resting his arms on the table in front of him. “Surprise party?”

“It’s something I said… a long, long time ago,” Party whispers. 

“It may simply mean that they’re coming after me, Gerard,” Korse tells him, frowning. “It was addressed to me.”

“But… those exact words, uncle Korse. Not just that, the note. I…”

“Someone’s trying to get a rise out of Korse,” Jet says. “It can’t be any more than that.”

“Those exact words!” Party hisses. “That phrase, that exact fucking phrase. There’s only one person that would know that besides me. Kobra. _Mikey_ . My _brother_.”

“Who’s dead.” Jet looks him dead in the eye. “It can’t be him. I saw him fall, Party. I saw the blood pooling around him.”

“He…” Party chokes. “Who would do such a cruel thing as to write this?” Party sobs. “My baby brother, dead and gone. He joined the Black Parade, and now a note comes speaking of the damn thing.”

“What is the Black Parade?” Jet asks slowly. 

“It’s something we made up as kids. A parade for the dead. When dad died, I told Kobra that he’s joined the Black Parade so Kobes wouldn’t be sad. It worked, for a little while. I remember Grandma telling me the story, so I told Kobra.” 

“So… how would they know that story?”

“I don’t know!” Party whines. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It seems to be addressed from your brother, Gerard,” Korse reminds him. Party spins around. 

“He’s _dead_!” He bites his lip. “Maybe Kobra told Cola? Or maybe he told someone else. I don’t know.” 

“Someone’s trying to wind Korse up. Which means they know about Kobra and Korse’s connection.”

Party nods, hanging his head. “Someone’s going to pay for doing something as cruel as this,” he hisses. Jet Star pats his shoulder gently. 

“It’ll be okay, Gerard,” Jet finally says and Party blinks up at him. They don’t use their regular names that much anymore. It makes him feel only the tiniest bit better.

* * *

“Dr. D!” Dr Death Defying hears Cherri Cola’s voice cry out. He raises his eyebrows and wheels himself. Standing in front of the diner are four figures, but Dr D only gets a glimpse of Cola before a person is throwing themselves at him. 

They then pull back and it’s the Girl. She’s older and she’s grinning brightly. Dr D can’t help but send one back. She’s still as sweet as ever. There’s light in her eyes, that had disappeared when she’d escaped without the boys. 

“Dr D can smile?” A cackle makes its way to his ears and he turns his head. The voice sounds familiar. 

Standing beside Cola is two other figures. One has his hands on his hips, shaggy hair hanging in front of his face. Beside him is a much taller figure with a helmet covering his face, bright red jacket proudly spelling out the word _Kobra_.

He stares at them, both of them. The tall guy removes his helmet, revealing blond hair and piercing eyes. He’s smirking, which is the most you could ever get out of him. 

“Obviously he can,” the blond says. Kobra Kid. Kobra Kid is standing there, alive in well. Beside him, Fun Ghoul grins. 

“Does that look mean he’s happy to see us?” 

“Maybe.” Kobra shrugs. “We should get inside before we burn to death out here.”

Dr D, still in complete shock, turns his wheelchair around and wheels back into the diner, being followed by the four figures. The Girl jumps into a booth as soon as she can. 

“I haven’t been here since I was a kid,” she says. “Could never find it.” 

“Have any of us been here since then?” Kobra asks, hopping on top of a table. Ghoul bounces up to sit on the divider between two booths and Cola simply sets himself across from the Girl. 

“He has, haven’t you,” Ghoul points at Cola. 

“Once or twice. It held too many memories,” he says sadly and Ghoul huffs. 

“Alright, alright, let’s do this, yeah?” Ghoul turns his head to look at Dr D, who sits still, staring at Ghoul and Kobra. “We’re gonna introduce ourselves, yeah?”

The Girl raised her eyebrows. “But we already-”

“No, we haven’t yet, sweetheart. Not to him. And you two have been rather tight-lipped about yourselves too.” 

Kobra sends Ghoul a look that the shorter man ignores. 

“Fine… My name’s Mikey. You happy, Ghoul?” 

Dr D knows the boy’s name, but it still surprises them. 

Ghoul pokes his tongue out at Kobra. “I’m Frank,” he says and points to himself. Dr D pauses on the name. His brother’s name was Frank. But it is a common name. Ghoul looks pointedly at Cola, who sighs. 

“Jimmy.”

“You know, I thought you looked like a Jimmy,” Ghoul says and Kobra bursts out laughing. 

“He _does_ ,” the blond cackles. Dr D can’t help but feel overjoyed. The surviving two of the fab four are still laughing and joking. They may have lost half their crew, but they haven’t lost themselves. 

“Well, I don’t know my original name, so there,” The Girl points out. Kobra massages his brow. 

“Party knew it. I’m sure he did.” 

Ghoul looks away. “Kobes…”

“It’s fine.” Kobra glares at the ground. “It’s fine.” He then shoots his gaze at Dr D. “Wait, what’s _your_ name, Doc?” 

Dr D laughs. “You dare ask me that, kiddo?”

“It’s Steve,” Ghoul’s voice comes out calm and collected. Dr D’s eyes bounce straight to the short man. He looks extremely sure of himself. 

“How did you know that, boy?”

“Because you’re the brother of Frank Iero,” Ghoul shoots back. Dr D narrows his eyes. 

“What do you know about Frank Iero?”

“Which one?” Ghoul spits. “There _are_ three of them. Two of them are dead.”

“All three of them are dead, Ghoul.” Dr D breathes in and out. He thinks about his father, his brother, his nephew. All of them, dead. 

* * *

_“Dad’s gone!” Frank, or better known as Smoke Ring, yells to his brother. Steve runs after his elder brother, who has his wife in his arms. She’s a beautiful woman, a strong woman, but her legs are broken. They’re slung over one of Frank’s arms. A baby sits, cocooned in her arms._

_“He’s what?” Steve cries back. “Did they really ghost him?”_

_Frank nods. “We need to get out of here. Pencey Prep, let’s go.”_

_Jenny, better know as DJ Hot Chimp, stands at the end of the hall, calling out to them._

_“Hurry!”_

_“Joyrider is down!” Frank yells. In his arms, Joyrider swats her husband’s face._

_“Don’t be silly,” she tells him. “I’m fine.”_

_The baby boy in her arms cries out and she curls her body around him._

_“Oh, baby Frankie. Don’t cry.” She wipes her baby’s eyes. “Mommy and Daddy will be okay.” She brushes his hair back._

_“This way,” Jenny directs. “We’ve got to get out, somehow.”_

_“Do you know the way out?” Steve asks as they run down another hall. There are footsteps behind them. Dracs. Steve withdraws his gun._

_“It’s not far,” Jenny says. “We can get out.” Even as she says this, she runs faster. The rest of them speed up to match._

_Frank adjusts his wife in his arms. “It’ll be okay, Linda,” he whispers and she laughs._

_“I know, I know.” She kisses her baby’s head. “Oh, Frankie.”_

_“There!” Steve yells. The entrance to the tunnels is right there. It’s a long walk through the underground for them, but Dracs don’t give chase down there._

_Jenny pulls the trap door open and Frank yells._

_“How are we getting Joyrider and Frankie down? They can’t climb!”_

_“Chimp, go down first,” Steve tells the girl. She nods and begins to climb down the ladder. When she gets down, Steve begins to make a plan._

_“I know what to do.”_

_“What?” Frank asks. “What do we do?”_

_“I’ll go down and you help her hang down. Then drop her and I’ll catch.”_

_“What about baby Frankie?” Linda asks. Steve begins his descent as Frank gets his wife situated on the ground near the entrance. Her face contorts in face. Her broken legs look like hell._

_  
__“Smoke? You can climb down with one arm, yeah?”_

_Frank nods._

_“You take the baby,” Jenny yells up. Steve jumps off the last step as Linda places her baby boy on the ground softly. Frank helps push her down and she grips to the top step, her legs dangling below her. Her face is twisted in absolute agony._

_“We never should have come back here!” Linda hisses. “Ready?!”_

_“Ready!” Steve yells back and she drops. He catches her in his arms and she screams in pain. Steve looks back up the hole. Frank has baby Frankie in his arms and he gets ready to descend himself. “Come on, Smoke!” Steve calls._

_“My baby!” Linda cries out._

_“Coming.” Frank gets ready to lower himself. The baby tucked in the crook of his arm is crying loudly. “Oh fuck!” He yells and then he disappears. Frankie cries even louder and they can hear shots go off._

_“Smoke! Frankie!” Linda yells. “Go Doc, go up!” He places her on the ground and readies himself to go up when Frank yells back._

_“RUN!”_

_The trap door slams shut and Jenny springs up, jumping and grasping the ladder. She’s agile as she climbs it. She didn’t get the name DJ Hot_ **_Chimp_ ** _for no reason._

_She pushes against the top, but she can’t get up._

_“He’s sealed it!” She calls down. Linda breaks down weeping._

_“Frank,” She whines. “Smokey!” She sobs loudly. Steve picks her back up as Jenny lands, tears in her eyes._

_“We can’t leave them!” She says._

_“Chimp’s right,” Linda whispers. “My baby boy. My Frankie. We can’t leave either of them. They’ll kill them!”_

_“They won’t kill a child,” Steve says, though even he’s unsure. “And Smoke is smart. He’ll get out.”_

_“We can’t_ **_leave_ ** _him!” Linda hisses. Steve begins to walk. Chimp growls._

_“He sealed it!” Steve tells her. “We can’t get up there. We’ll need to find another way.”_

_Linda scowls but her face falls and she bites her lip. “Okay…”_

_“We need to get your legs in splints. We can’t have them healing wrong,” Jenny says._

_“Frankie…” Linda whines again. “My baby boy. I…”_

_“We’ll save him, Joyrider. We will.” Steve frowns. His brother. He’s leaving his brother and his nephew behind. No. No, they’re not leaving them behind. They’re going to go back for them._

_They don’t have a chance to go back, though. At the end of the tunnel are two Dracs. They start shooting and Jenny shoots back, Linda fumbling for her gun and shooting the best she can. They take out the two, but then Steve gets caught in the arm. That causes him to falter and Linda goes tumbling to the ground, screaming again. Her legs hit the floor with a loud crunch that both Steve and Jenny cringe at._

_“Joyrider!” Jenny yells as she spins and starts to shoot. Steve goes to pick Linda back up when another shot hits his shoulder. A shot then passes right by him and Linda yells again. Down her side is a harsh burn._

_“Go! Fucking go!” Linda shouts. “Chimp! Doc! Leave me!”_

_“No one gets left behind,” Jenny yells. “No one!”_

_“I’ll find Smoke and Frankie and we’ll meet you out in the sand.”_

_Her eyes and Steve’s lock and he sees the look in hers. She needs to stay. She can’t leave her husband or her child behind. He seizes Jenny’s wrist and pulls her. She shouts out protests but he doesn’t listen. The Dracs swarm Linda, not seeming to care about the other two._

_“Let go, Doc!” She hisses._

_“We need to go.” He runs, dragging her with him. Soon enough, she actually begins to keep pace with him._

_“I hate you,” she growls. He sighs._

_“I’m sorry,” he murmurs._

* * *

“You ran with Pencey?” The Girl exclaims. 

“I was Pencey. Me, Smoke Rings, Joyrider, DJ Hot Chimp. We were Pencey Prep. And, of course, baby Frank who had just been born that day in which me and Chimp had to leave our closest friends and our nephew behind.”

“Where is Chimp?” Ghoul asks, still calm and collected. 

“She ran off after you lot died,” he shoots both Kobra and Ghoul a look. “How did you survive?”

“We already went over this with Cola but neither of us got fatally wounded, instead we got knocked out. When we woke up everyone around us was dead,” Ghoul says. “We stole a bike and rode off into the sun. Found the ocean, actually. Maybe that’s where we can retire after the Girl defeats Better Living.” 

Dr D thinks there’s more to the story but he keeps his mouth shut. 

“Why did you say all three Frank Iero’s were dead?” Ghoul crosses his arms. “I know Frank Sr, Sr, is dead. He was ghosted when you guys ran. Then Frank Sr, Smoke Rings, was taken away like twenty years ago. When I fled the city.” 

Kobra sends Ghoul a warning glare. 

Dr D’s eyebrows lift. “He survived?”

“Yes,” Ghoul crosses his arms. “My father did, in fact, survive for quite some time. I was eleven when they took him away and I had to run.”

Dr D’s eyes go wide. Frank. Baby Frankie. His dear nephew, the crying baby who screamed for his mother as she cried out for him and his father. 

“Frankie?”

Ghoul? Ghoul is his nephew? 

Then again. Ghoul has his father’s face and his mother’s eyes. He has his mother’s strong spirit, his father’s loving touch. The more Doc thinks about it, the more he realises. 

Ghoul’s lips split into a giant grin. “Hey, Uncle Steve.” 

They don’t run into each other’s arms. Dr D wouldn’t have even if he could. No. They just smile at each other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dr D is named Steve because the person who plays him is Steve Righ (guitarist in Mindless Self Indulgence)  
> Cherri Cola is named Jimmy because in the SING mv, the Drac that Party pulled the mask off was supposed to be Cherri Cola before Gerard decided to instead put him in the comics and he was played by Jimmy Urine (singer of Mindless Self Indulgence)  
> DJ Hot Chimp is named Jenny because of the lyric in Bulletproof Heart "Jenny could you come back home" 
> 
> The names Smoke Rings and Joyrider both come from Frank's album Stomachaches. If you haven't listened to it, go and listen to it!!! Pencey Prep was the name of Frank's band before he joined MCR. Go check out their music too.
> 
> I'm gonna write a full fic about the Pency Prep gang, I promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
